blondie

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Posts by blondie

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  54

  Is AI going to change the world?

  by Reasonfirst in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  had lunch with a friend, whose a lecturer in the accounting dept.

  of one of australia's best universities.

  he told me he expects to lose his job at some point in the next 5 years, as the accounting dept, will disappear, as all accounting will be done by ai programs, so why teach it.. if his fears are correct, that means that any profession that involves the mind, may one day face the same future.

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  blondie

  I think of AI as a tool. But like a gun, in the hands of child becomes very dangerous, I have already heard the word "Skynet" in my mind.
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  109

  Why disfellowship must be eliminated for the survival of the WT itself

  by TheScientist in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this topic i digress about why the watchtower relaxing the rules of disfellowship is essential for its survival.

  many things i'm going to say are not my ideas, some are, the point is, i'm condensing everything in a logical and concise way.. the first thing we have to keep in mind is that the wt's main objective in instituting disfellowship has always been not to lose members because of the damage that a dissident could do, or to avoid gaining new members because of the bad reputation of a confessed sinner in the his/her region.

  in the end, the more active members, the more money to the coffers.. in this case of disfellowship due to apostasy, to avoid any spark, texts were sought out of context that even prohibited saying "hi".

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  blondie

  Df'ing, a punishment to keep the "diseased" jws out and make sure their jw family/friends stay away from them and punishment them even further. It was no a thing until about the mid-40's and 50's, scaring people to stay.
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  7

  crazy ebay listing

  by stan livedeath in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i was searching a sellers listings for my hobby stuff--model railways--and the seller has listed this amongst it.. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/395090358779?hash=item5bfd3871fb:g:qmyaaoswidnliyfk.

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  blondie

  I never saw or used those, but my mother did. She called it a 7 scripture sermon that had to be memorized and she was a newly baptized jw. She used to say that people at the door would never stand there that long to listen now. Now the WTS has said the first thing said at the door has to be short, attention span has gone done over the years.
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  18

  Another kingdom hall up for sale

  by pepperheart in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  hi another kingsom hall is up for sale if you look in the rightmove property website and look for bradford in the uk you will see that its priced at £170,000.. but why should they need to be selling a kingdom hall off espically when they are not printing about 50 million magazines a month they vant be that short of money can they ?

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  blondie

  The WTS seemed so sure the end was coming in 1975 but kept building expecting that people would fill them up trying to escape destruction. Then destruction didn't come. And gradually the increase like that stopped and there were KHs that were no longer filled, There were so many empty seats, that some congregations took out the chairs in the back. There was a turnover, as jws started forgetting about the pre-1975 days by people were not even born or jws then. Congregations are being combined in one building, four in the KH I last attended. KHs sold. There had been talk in the past of making more congregations, that went out the window. I never thought that the 2 congregations that were combined would ever have that happen. Some jws I have met say it means the end is near. ha!
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  19

  A City Having Real Foundations.

  by LostintheFog1999 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  someone asked me recently when did i start to have doubts as an elder about what i was teaching from the platform.. i have given it a lot of thought and i can say that it was when i was delivering a public talk about the book of hebrews.

  so i paused and read it again.. i looked at the audience and said to them let's look at the cross-reference for this verse which is hebrews 12:22 and i read that verse.

  after which i remember saying "and this is how the outline puts it.... " and i read from the outline verbatim.. abraham was not looking forward to an earthly kingdom hope.

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  blondie

  Verses that don't mean what it says:

  What verse does the WTS to come up with the idea "governing body"?

  "Read Acts 15:1-35, and see how the first-century governing body discussed and resolved a dispute with the help of the Scriptures and holy spirit."

  Acts 15 No where is the phrase "governing body" ever used. And it will be hard to find where the WTS in its publications puts quotes around that phrase, meaning that phrase is not in the bible scripture cited.
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  3

  The GB's New Year's Resolutions

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  towards the end of this year, they managed to shock many on here and elsewhere with new resolutions, like publishers no longer having to record hours and now allowing men to grow beards without having to face judgement or judgemental behaviour.

  but, as pointed out by a few, these amount to being not much more than cosmetic changes, one in administrative paperwork and the other in personal grooming habits.

  the other major change announced in the leaked agm video is the possibility of being saved at the last minute.

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  blondie

  joeyjo,

  "Like beards, there is no clear law in the bible that disallows celebrating birthdays." Most jws don't realize there is no clear law disallowing birthdays. I didn't until I tried to explain it to a non-jw. I saw how the WTS strings scriptures together and tries to "connect the dots." But the picture they are trying to convey pictures nothing when the dots are connected. But many jws realize that if they don't go along with it, it will damage their standing and the congregation and seem to be troublemakers. It isn't until the WTS says it is okay or let your own conscience dictate your decisions, they still in qualifiers that make it seem your decision is wrong. I do believe though that the continuing revealing to the public media about cases of child sexual abuse and the WTS hiding them, resulting in big fines, is making more jws wonder and maybe even research. The WTS wants to save their so-called good reputation with non-jws who have no idea what goes on behind the closed doors of the WTS. I have seen a lot of changes over my 60 years, and the more things the more the stay the same. The difference is more and more jws are finding ways around the "rules" of the WTS. Especially PIMOs. Once the door is open, it is very hard to shut it.
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  26

  Can Elders Voluntarily Resign?

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  an elder with half a brain (and they must exist 🧐) is going to see the writing on the wall with the way the wt is manoeuvring them into taking the fall over csa cases.

  can an elder in good standing step down with no consequences, official or social?.

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  blondie

  I know several elders didn't want to be elders any more and the BOE told them they could not step down, the BOE had to approve it! One elder told them that he would no longer do the "privileges" assigned to him, and there were a lot, because other elders would not do them and dumped them on him. He told them they would look really foolish on Sunday when he did not get on the stage to conduct the WT study. The other elders realized that would cause other problems for the BOE, so the elder was allowed to step down, and nothing was bad announced about it (that has happened more than most jws realize). Yes, the elders did treat him like crap. Six weeks later, he just stopped coming and politely said he had nothing to discuss with them. Of course, spreading your own story around, would cause trouble for that elder. I know of elders who moved to another congregation and turned down the "privilege" to be reappointed in that congregation, not even as a ministerial servant.
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  66

  My decision.

  by MissDaSilva in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i’ve decided to disassociate from the jw organisation.

  i cannot be part of a community that blatantly rejects the sacrifice of jesus in that demonic memorial ritual.

  amazing what information you find when you start researching.. i’m writing my letter and posting it to the kingdom hall this morning.

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  blondie

  The WTS has written instructions available only to elders. The info could be there and it is possible to get a download from some ex-jws of that publication. I do know that the elders are required to call at least once a year inactive jws (not attending meetings, not turning in time situation. The CO would come 2x a year to visit a congregation and would check the cards of inactive to see who the elders had visited during that year. But elders can do what my husband, once an elder was told, drive by the house and see if you can catch them smoking outside and having holiday decorations up! Several elders in some congregations, took out the inactive cards, as well as the df'd and da'd before the CO came. https://jws-library.one/?file=data/Books/Shepherd+the+Flock+of+God/202004/202004_sfl_E.html#bookmark743

  Each year prior to the special talk and Memorial, a special effort should be made to contact all inactive ones living in the congregation’s territory. If group overseers and their assistants need help, the service committee may ask other elders and qualified ministerial servants to work along with the group overseers. The brothers making such visits should be warm and upbuilding.

  There is no formal arrangement to visit disfellowshipped or disassociated individuals each year. Rather, elders should use good judgment in determining whether and how to make brief contact with such ones. For example, if a disfellowshipped individual gives some evidence of changing his ways, an elder could provide him with a copy of the Return to Jehovah brochure and remind him of the steps he can take toward being reinstated. (Isa. 1:18; rj pp. 10-14) Such brief contact could be made while an elder engages in the house-to-house ministry. While shopping, an elder may see a disfellowshipped person who has not been contacted in years and choose to approach him. An elder may visit a dis-fellowshipped person at any time that is appropriate or even make contact by telephone.
  
  
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  13

  the slaves might be revolting

  by pepperheart2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  on the watchtower website it says that most of the work that will be done fishkill will be out sourced to non jws .i thought that jws always used to build everything them selves.

  this might explain what happend to ramapo they put an appeal out for free labour and people said no .

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  blondie

  The WTS has said for a long time that volunteers first qualification to consider their "spiritual standing" in their congregation. That means some people without any building experience were put in charge of those that did. What a nightmare that has proved to be for the WTS. Many jws did not realize that the WTS has been hiring outside non-jw contractors for some due to the specific skills needed for that type of construction. Many jws think that WTS uses only jw lawyers, but same problem, lawyers specialize in certain areas and jw lawyers have no skill in abuse cases. So the WTS has hired outside lawyers skilled in abuse cases. When it comes to losing money, that is most important, that someone's spiritual standing, but their professional skills put to the test and current.
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  30

  Pyramid shaped table

  by MissDaSilva in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  blondie

  ThomasMore, Barbara Anderson who is an ex-jw that works a lot with the lawyers skilled in WTS abuses cases. In the past she did extensive research on whether Russell was a Freemason. Here is some of that research.https://watchtowerdocuments.org/charles-taze-russell-was-not-a-pennsylvania-freemason/